We are blessed to have
so many outstanding locations within a 90 mile radius or two hour drive of Philadelphia
– this area being loosely known as the Delaware Valley. Immediately, National
Wildlife Refuges sites such as Edwin Forsythe aka Brigantine, Bombay Hook and
John Heinz aka Tinicum come to mind, not to mention the whole Cape May area;
numerous forests, preserves, state and county parks; reservoirs, rivers, bays
and coastal marshes and sandy beaches; hawk and sea watches; nature centers
and nature parks along with a plethora of other smaller patches that are highly
desirable birding spots.

This BIRDING BY MONTH section provides
suggestions on particular birding location during certain months, should you
want to go out birding or to look for a certain target species. While a number
of these sites could be birded with success at almost any time of year, we have
made an effort not to repeat ourselves too often and in certain cases just mentioned
what a particular location has to offer at that time of year.

As a generalization:

waterfowl are best
seen from October through March as they spend the winters in a more southern
location;

geese from November
through March;

sparrows from October
through April when they tend to congregate in larger numbers in weedy fields;

warblers and passerines
from mid April through June during spring migration with the peak being in
the first 3 weeks of May, and again in September and October as they head
south;

thrushes in May as
they pass through on passage to breed in more northerly locations;

raptors from mid September
through November as they make their way south;

owls, when in
some years a number of species spend the winter months in our area;

shorebirds in May as
they pass through on their way to their breeding grounds in the far north
and again when they head south from July through September;

terns along the coast
in late summer, July through September

Using this in conjunction with updated reports from the
excellent weekly Delaware Valley
Rare Birding Alert will certainly help you pick a location at any time
of year and possibly even get you a new bird!